On 25 November 2025, we were delighted to co-host a celebration of the 2025 recipients of the Puttnam Scholars Ireland/Northern Ireland Film Programme on its sixth anniversary with British Ambassador to Ireland Kara Owen.
The Puttnam Scholars Programme is a cross-border initiative offering interactive online seminars for early-to-mid career filmmakers, run in partnership with Screen Ireland and Northern Ireland Screen. The Northern Ireland Screen scholars are also supported by the Film Distributors’ Association (UK & Ireland) to attend Berlinale in 2026.
Since its launch in 2019, Lord David Puttnam has led small group sessions with eight talented individuals from both sides of the border, focusing on developing their creative resilience, professional skills and fostering cultural and business connections across the island of Ireland.
The programme is run by Atticus Education, an initiative by Lord Puttnam founded in 2012 to bridge the gap between technology and learning.
In-person Celebration 25 November 2025
The event was co-hosted by British Council Ireland and the British Ambassador to Ireland Kara Owen. Lord Puttnam, Directors of Atticus Education, Northern Ireland Screen and Screen Ireland were in attendance. We were also joined by sector and key higher education leads in film and wider arts and culture in Ireland.
The event was a wonderful celebration of Lord Puttnam’s significant contribution to the film industry and the next generation of film makers on this island as well as the programme’s six years of successful support of cross-border collaboration in film.
We were delighted to be joined by the eight scholars:
- Callum Harrison (Northern Ireland Screen)
- Dallan Shovlin (Northern Ireland Screen)
- Lara Hickey (Screen Ireland)
- Laura McNicholas (Screen Ireland)
- Leesa Harker (Northern Ireland Screen)
- Méabh Nic Alastair (Northern Ireland Screen)
- Philip Doherty (Screen Ireland)
- Robert Higgins (Screen Ireland)
For further information about the scholars and this year’s programme, visit the Screen Ireland website.
A huge thank you to HMA Kara Owen, Lord David Puttnam, Neil Watson and Mary Jane Boland from Atticus Education; Richard Williams and Nicola Lyons from Northern Ireland Screen; and Desiree Finnegan and Libbie McQuillan from Screen Ireland for your ongoing commitment to this work.
Thank you to Arts Council Ireland’s Fionnuala Sweeney, Screen Producer’s Ireland Susan Kirby, Director Lenny Abrahamson, Element’s Ed Guiney, IADT’s Dr Jeremiah Ambrose and Ulster Screen Academy/Ulster University’s Professor Fiona Kilkelly for joining us for an afternoon of inspiring conversations on the future of film creators.